communication English · revision 3927

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1382|origins=la commūnicāre}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kəˌmjuː.nɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|communicacioun]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|comunicacion]] and directly [[der|la|commūnicātiō|t=a making common, imparting, communicating]] (accusative commūnicātiōnem),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) a noun of action from [[m|la|commūnicāre|t=to share, impart, inform; to join, unite]], literally “to make common”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) related to [[m|la|commūnis|t=common, public, general]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[communicate]], [[common]] and [[community]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The act of imparting or transmitting: 1382 in the OED,^(OED 1989) about 1384 in the Wycliffe Bible according to Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) and the early 15th century in Etymonline, as imparting, discussing or conferring.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Conversation or conference is from 1462, a sense now obsolete.^(OED 1989) “That which is communicated”, a message, is from the late 15th century (1490).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The specific sense of imparting or exchanging ideas and information is first found in Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) Access between places is from 1684,^(OED 1989) and a means of communication, such as a road or passage, by 1715.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''Communications'', the means of sending information by telephone, radio and the like, belongs to the 20th century.^(MW Collegiate)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1382 – the act of imparting.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1462 – conversation.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1490 – a message.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1684 – access between places.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1690 – the exchange of ideas, in Locke.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1715 – a means of communication.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act of communicating; [[transmission]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The exchange of thoughts, messages or information, as by speech, writing or signals.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Something communicated; a [[message]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''Communications'', a system for sending and receiving messages, such as by telephone or radio.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A means of passage between places.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[communicational]]

+ * [[excommunication]]

+ * [[overcommunication]]

+ * [[communications satellite]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[communicate]]

+ * [[communicator]]

+ * [[communion]]

+ * [[common]]

+ * [[community]]

+ * [[excommunicate]]

+ * [[municipal]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}